If you've driven along the 18-mile stretch of the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, you know there have been various safety efforts over the last couple of years — such as updating speed limit signs and talks of installing speed detection cameras to make sure the average driver keeps their car at or below the posted 60 miles per hour, while doubling fines for detecting excess speed.
It's part of our state's highway safety corridor project — current law that went into effect back in 2022 with the goal of reducing the number of fatal crashes along the Basin Bridge, which DOTD and state lawmakers at the time said would often keep traffic closed on it for hours. Now, in 2024, Republican Sen. Blake Miguez representing Lafayette, St. Martin, and Iberia parishes is the author behind a bill that seeks to repeal current law which would double-back on the doubled fines and some of the current safety measures implemented along the bridge — such as the speed cameras which have yet to go up.
I hit the streets to hear your thoughts about the efforts behind SB 379. I first met Pete Schultheiss, a man traveling through Acadiana and along the Basin Bridge to get back home to Roanoke, Virginia after visiting Texas. He tells me he believes the current law is fair and that it makes sense to make use of modern technology — on one condition.
"As long as they're upfront about what the speed limit is and what the consequences of exceeding the speed limit is, it's fair either way," Schultheiss says. "Lower speeds means lower accidents."
But Ben Robin, a refrigerator technician from Sunset who travels along the Basin Bridge often for work tells me he disagrees.
"If you caught me speeding, you caught me speeding, just pay the regular ticket price," Robin says, noting that while he sees a lot of commuter cars getting pulled over for speeding through the area, those driving big rigs are usually even faster, yet rarely pulled over. "I shouldn't have to pay $1,000 and have to sell the car to pay the ticket."
While Robin's statement may seem exaggerated, the law shows that it's only slight. At last check, first-offense speeding fines on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge are up to $350, while second-time offenders can expect to pay up to $1,000.
Miguez says fines paid by speeders caught on camera pay the camera provider first, with the leftovers going to local parishes. His argument is that repealing this would alternatively allow those fines to directly support local law enforcement, and make speeding infractions more personal by allowing for the incident to be dealt with in person versus through a bill in the mail that many may be unable to afford.
"I received unanimous support in both the Senate committee and the Senate floor, it's just not a policy that people supported, they just didn't want to overly-impose their Senate graces, which I can understand the politics behind that," Miguez says.
Still, the question remains — why attempt repealing this law now, when the present law has been in effect for the last two years?
"It's the first year that the author is no longer in the legislature and the president of the Senate," Miguez tells me. "So we can have a real discussion and actually hear what people think of the legislation."
I've since reached out to former-Senator and Senate President Page Cortez, the author behind SB 435 which evolved into the safety corridor project during the 2022 regular session. At last check, I have yet to receive a response.
Regardless of the SB 379's outcome, it's worth noting that you will continue to see signs notifying you of increased fines and warnings for trucks to stay in the right lane, as this part of the current law has already been carried out.
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